After-market attachments for road widening and shouldering are well-known in the construction industry.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,540,687 (Neumann '687) teaches a skid steer attachment for performing work in confined areas (e.g., road shoulders, trenches). The attachment disclosed in Neumann '687 is comprised of a compact frame adapted to support a hopper; a conveyer system; a spreader system; a spreader system angular adjustment; a hydraulic system; wheels; front contact rollers, which contact the back wheels of a dump truck; and a universal mounting plate. This device has enjoyed an extensive market presence and improvements have been made to further increase its utility and durability.
A limitation of Neumann '687 was that the conveyer belt system would become misaligned due to the pressure from debris coming in contact with the belt over time, as well as from the motion of the vehicle. The conveyer belt was required to be realigned by running the hydraulics and lifting, then realigning, the flashing between the hopper and conveyer belt. The belt would then realign itself.
A further limitation of the device disclosed in Neumann '687 is that it has to be disassembled before being placed on a trailer. The front rollers of the device have to be manually removed, causing time delays for disassembly and reassembly.
The hopper further includes an additional wall which is secured to the hopper on the side opposite the spreader system.
The skid steer attachment disclosed by Neumann '687 has enjoyed a wide market, and experience with the device has led to improvements resulting in a highly resilient and more portable attachment as disclosed herein.